President Meets with Defense Team
Remarks by the President in Press Availability
Prairie Chapel Ranch
Crawford, Texas

12:05 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary, thank you for coming. General
Myers, Vice President and Condi and I had a long-ranging discussion
with our key members of the defense team about a variety of subjects.
We talked about Iraq, the way forward in Iraq, the way to help the
Iraqis get to elections. We're making progress on the ground. We were
briefed not only by the Secretary and General Myers, but, as well, by
General Casey and General Abizaid via secure communications.

We talked about transformation issues. We spent some time talking
about the reconfiguration of our forces around the world, to better be
able to keep the peace. And, Mr. Secretary, I thank you for your
leadership on that issues. The Secretary did a great job of not only
coming up with a strategy to enable America to better protect ourselves
and friends and allies against the true threats of the 21st century,
but he consulted with our allies in such a way that the response was
very positive and I thought very good.

We talked about intelligence reform. We just talked about a
variety of issues that are important for the security of the country.
And I appreciate you coming, sir. Thank you for being here.

I'll answer some questions. Deb.

Q Some of your supporters are refighting the Vietnam War with
their comments about Kerry's war record. Do you think that these
attacks of this nature are unpatriotic, un-American, seeing as we're
sending young people to war at this time?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I think we ought to be debating who best to be
leading this country in the war against terror. And that's what I'll
continue to try to convince the American people of, is that I'm the
right person to continue to lead the country in the war on terror. I
think we ought to be looking forward, not backward. And that's the
kind of campaign I'll continue to run.

Q But why won't you denounce the charges that your supporters
are making against Kerry?

THE PRESIDENT: I'm denouncing all the stuff being on TV of the
527s. That's what I've said. I said this kind of unregulated soft
money is wrong for the process. And I asked Senator Kerry to join me
in getting rid of all that kind of soft money, not only on TV, but used
for other purposes, as well. I, frankly, thought we'd gotten rid of
that when I signed the McCain-Feingold bill. I thought we were going
to, once and for all, get rid of a system where people could just pour
tons of money in and not be held to account for the advertising. And
so I'm disappointed with all those kinds of ads.

Yes, Adam.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. This doesn't have anything to do
with other 527 ads. You've been accused of mounting a smear campaign.
Do you think Senator Kerry lied about his war record?

THE PRESIDENT: I think Senator Kerry served admirably, and he
ought to be -- he ought to be proud of his record. But the question
is, who best to lead the country in the war on terror; who can handle
the responsibilities of the Commander-in-Chief; who's got a clear
vision of the risks that the country faces.

Yes.

Q Mr. President, some Republicans, such as Bob Dole and some
Republican donors such as --

THE PRESIDENT: What paper are you with?

Q I'm with Bloomberg.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good. First time I've seen you ought here.
Welcome.

Q Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: No problem. Did you write the story about the Vice
President? (Laughter.) Yes, go ahead.

Q That's okay. Some Republicans such as Bob Dole and some
Republican donors such as Bob Perry have contributed and endorsed the
message of these 527 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads --

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q Do you -- when you say that you want to stop all --

THE PRESIDENT: All of them.

Q Does that mean --

THE PRESIDENT: That means that ad, every other ad.

Q Would you encourage Republicans not to give to --

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. I don't think we ought to have 527s.
I can't be more plain about it. And I wish -- I hope my opponent joins
me in saying, condemning these activities of the 527s. It's the -- I
think they're bad for the system. That's why I signed the bill,
McCain-Feingold. I've been disappointed that for the first six months
of this year, 527s were just pouring tons of money, billionaires
writing checks. And I spoke out against them early. I tried to get
others to speak out against them, as well. And I just don't -- I think
they're bad for the system.

Yes, Robert.

Q Sir, on the price of oil, it's at or near record levels.
Other than pushing for your energy proposals, which we know about, what
else are you doing to try to mitigate the price of oil?

THE PRESIDENT: That's the best thing, is to come up with a
comprehensive energy strategy that encourages conservation, encourages
environmentally sensitive exploration for natural resources in our own
hemisphere. It talks about, of course, dealing with new forms of
energy. And, admittedly, those aren't going to come on market in time
to deal with the current price of oil --

Q Did you talk to President Putin about it this morning?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I talked to him about it.

Q What did he say?

THE PRESIDENT: He said he recognizes that we don't need to be --
he doesn't need to be causing conditions such that it hurts consuming
nations. He's wise about that. But we've got a lot of countries
beginning to use more energy, and we haven't done a good job of
increasing supply.

Q Just one more thing along that line. Are you concerned that
the price of energy could become a campaign issue here of larger
proportions than it already is?

THE PRESIDENT: I think the people know that we have -- this
administration has been asking for Congress to pass a comprehensive
energy plan for over two years. We recognized this problem two years
ago and spoke out clearly and urged the members of Congress to pass a
bill. And it's stuck. So people know we've been proactive on the
issue.

Last question. Yes. Hold on. Yes, Mark.

Q Thank you. Sir, how is work coming --

THE PRESIDENT: You've got your earphones on so you're speaking
very loudly. (Laughter.)

Q Sorry, didn't mean to do that. How is work coming on your
convention speech? What should we expect from it? And are you worried
about violent protests at the convention?

THE PRESIDENT: Let's see. You know, I -- people are allowed to
express themselves in democracies, and hopefully they'll do so in a
peaceful way.

In terms of the speech, I'm working on it. But I don't want to
give you any tidbits --

Q Just a little bit.

THE PRESIDENT: I don't want to give you any tidbits, for fear that
you may not pay attention when I actually stand up there and deliver
it. (Laughter.)

Q Oh, he'll pay attention.

THE PRESIDENT: You think he will? (Laughter.) I'm looking
forward to giving it. I want to talk about what I intend to do. We've
got a great record, when you think about it -- led the world and the
war on terror; the world is safer as a result of the actions we've
taken; Afghanistan is no longer run by the Taliban; Saddam Hussein sits
in a prison cell; Muammar Qaddafi has gotten rid of his weapons;
Pakistan is an ally in the war on terror. There's more work to be done
in fighting off these terrorists. I clearly see that. I understand
that we've got to use all resources at our disposal to find and bring
these people to justice.

When you think about domestic politics, we've faced a recession,
had tax cuts that encouraged economic growth and vitality. We've
helped reform a education system with the No Child Left Behind Act.
We've reformed Medicare, first administration ever to get Congress to
move forward on Medicare reform. We got trade promotion authority; it
opened up more markets for U.S. entrepreneurs and farmers and
manufacturers.

We've had a great record. But the only reason to even talk about
the record is to say, give us a chance to move the country forward.
We're people who can get the job done. We've proven to you we can get
the job done, and there's more work to be done. And I'll talk about
that in the convention. In other words, it's going to be a
forward-looking speech.

Last question. I know you all are hungry.

Q Absolutely. Mr. President, thank you. Intelligence
Committee Chairman Pat Roberts has proposed a bill to radically
restructure the intelligence community. He splits up the CIA, gives
complete budgetary authority to the new NID, as well as personnel
hiring and firing authority, and more -- takes a number of intelligence
collection agencies out of the Pentagon and transmits them over to the
NID. I wonder what you think of that proposal, and what is the status
of the White House effort on this front.

THE PRESIDENT: I haven't seen it. I haven't seen his proposal.
He was on TV yesterday morning talking about his ideas, and I'm sure
he's going to send it over to us to take a look at it.

There is a lot of ideas moving around. And we've got a lot of
smart people looking at the best way to fashion intelligence so that
the President and his Cabinet Secretaries have got the ability to make
good judgment calls on behalf of the American people. That's what I'm
interested in. I'm interested in how to get the best intelligence to
my desk so I can be a good decision-maker on behalf of the people of
this country. And intelligence is a vital part of winning this war
against these terrorists. We've got to know who they are, what they're
thinking, where they are. And so that's how we're approaching this
issue.

Now, listen, I've called for a national intelligence director
because I think it's an important part of coordinating activities to
make sure the analysis of information is as good as it can possibly
be. I am not for anything standing in between me and my line operators
like the Secretary of Defense. In other words, once intelligence is in
place, and once we come up with a decision as to how to act, I want to
make sure the person responsible for the actions is -- has a direct
report to me.

And so we're looking at all options including the budget option,
all aimed at making sure that me and future Presidents have got the
best information possible. And so Senator Roberts is a good,
thoughtful guy, he came up with an idea and we'll look at it. We'll
take a look at it and determine whether or not it works or not. But
there's going to be a lot of other ideas, too, as this debate goes
forward.

Listen, thank you all.

Q You're not going to Athens this week, are you?

THE PRESIDENT: Athens, Texas? (Laughter.)

Q The Olympics, Greece.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, the Olympics. No, I'm not.

Q Have you been watching them?

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yes. Yes, it's been exciting.

Q Any particular moment stand out?

THE PRESIDENT: Particular moment? I like the -- let's see --
Iraqi soccer. I liked seeing the Afghan woman carrying the flag,
coming in. I loved our gymnasts. I've been watching the swimming.
I've seen a lot, yes.